McKINLEY, WILLIAM. 



York, and immediately afterward he was present 

 at the dedication of the Washington Monument 

 in Philadelphia. 



President Cleveland, in his last annual^ mes- 

 sage, had stated plainly the position of the United 

 States on the Cuban question, saying that the 

 suppression of the insurrection was essentially 

 a matter for Spain, that this country would not 

 iail to make every effort to prevent filibustering 

 expeditions and unlawful aid of any kind for the 

 rebels, but adding the warning note that a time 

 might come when intervention would be demanded 

 in the name of humanity, and that it behooved 

 Spain to end the struggle before this should be- 

 come necessary. This was hardly a statement 

 of party policy, but rather the expression of the 

 sentiment of the whole country, and after the 

 first year of the new administration it was seen 

 that its policy had been much along those lines. 

 In his note of Sept. 23, 1897, Gen. Woodford had 

 assured the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 the Duke of Tetuan, that all the United States 

 asked was that some lasting settlement might be 

 found which Spain could accept with self-respect, 

 and to this end the United States offered its 

 kindly offices, hoping that during the coming 

 month Spain might be able to formulate some 

 proposal under which this tender of good offices 

 might become effective, or else that she might 

 give satisfactory assurances that the insurrection 

 would be promptly and finally put down. 



A change in ministry took place in Spain, and 

 the Liberals succeeded to power. The new For- 

 eign Minister, Seiior Gullon, replied to the Ameri- 

 can note on Oct. 23, suggesting more stringent 

 application of the neutrality laws on the part of 

 the United States, and asserting that conditions 

 in the island would change for the better when the 

 new autonomous institutions could go into effect. 

 This measure of self-government was proclaimed 

 by Spain on Nov. 23, 1897. The insurgents re- 

 jected it in advance; the Spanish Cubans who up- 

 held Weyler's policy were equally vigorous in de- 

 nouncing it; the remainder of the population was 

 inclined to accept it, as it was in lieu of anything 

 better, although it fell far short of what they 

 had been led to hope for. It stipulated, among 

 other things, that no law might be enacted by 

 the new Legislature without the approval of the 

 Governor-General; Spain was to fix the amount 

 to be paid by Cuba for maintenance of the rights 

 of the Crown, nor could the Cuban Chamber dis- 

 cuss the estimates for the colonial budget until 

 this sum had been voted first; furthermore, per- 

 petual preferential duties in favor of Spanish 

 trade and manufactures were provided for. The 

 formal inauguration of the system took place in 

 January, 1898, but it was evident that there were 

 irreconcilable differences between the members of 

 the ministry as well as between their followers, 

 although a certain well-wishing toward the new 

 measure was manifested by the insurgent party, 

 many of them returning from the United States 

 or coming from the field of hostilities to submit 

 themselves under Marshal Blanco's proclamation 

 of amnesty; yet early in January, 1898, the Span- 

 ish party broke out in such serious demonstra- 

 tions and rioting against the autonomists and the 

 Americans in Cuba that Consul-General Lee rec- 

 ommended the sending of an American man-of- 

 war to Havana, as much for the moral effect of 

 its presence as for the protection of American 

 property there in the imminent and unfortunate 

 contingency of disturbance. 



The tone of the press in the United States had 

 been growing more serious. The failure of the 

 autonomous constitution was evident, the mili- 



tary situation was growing worse, the loss of life 

 on the part of the helpless non-combatants caused 

 by the reconcentration policy of Weyler was daily 

 more appalling; it was clear that the situation 

 Avas nearing a crisis. Sefior Canalejas, editor of 

 a Madrid paper, made a voyage to Cuba at this 

 time, to see the actual position. He stopped in 

 the United States, called on his friend Dupuy de 

 Lome, the Spanish minister at Washington, and 

 then went to Havana. Soon after the departure 

 of Canalejas, De Lome wrote him a private letter, 

 in which he criticized severely the policy of the 

 President in regard to the Cuban question, and 

 characterized him as a vacillating and time-serv- 

 ing politician. This letter, obtained surrepti- 

 tiously, was published widely in the press on 

 Feb. 8, and later the original letter was communi- 

 cated to the Department of State. The follow- 

 ing day Seiior de Lome, in a personal conference 

 with Assistant-Secretary Day, admitted its genu- 

 ineness, said he recognized the impossibility of 

 continuing to hold official relations with this 

 Government after the unfortunate disclosure, and 

 added that on the evening of the 8th, and again 

 on the morning of the 9th, he had telegraphed to 

 his Government, asking to be relieved of his mis- 

 sion. Immediately after this conference a tele- 

 graphic instruction was sent to Gen. Woodford to 

 inform the Government of Spain that the publica- 

 tion in question had ended the Spanish minister's 

 usefulness, and expressing the President's expecta- 

 tion that he would be immediately recalled. But 

 before Gen. Woodford could present this instruc- 

 tion the Cabinet had accepted the minister's resig- 

 nation. Three days later Gen. Woodford tele- 

 graphed to the department a communication from 

 the Minister of State expressing the sincere regret 

 of his Government at the act of its representative. 

 On Feb. 17 Seiior Polo y Bernabe was appointed 

 to succeed Senor Dupuy de Lome as Spanish min- 

 ister to the United States. 



The excitement caused in the United States by 

 this incident was still fresh when it was quickened 

 into deeper and graver feeling by the destruction 

 of the United States battle-ship Maine in the har- 

 bor of Havana. After the riots in January, 1898, 

 Consul-General Lee had asked for an American 

 man-of-w T ar to protect the interests of this coun- 

 try. The Spanish authorities were advised that 

 the Government intended to resume friendly naval 

 visits to Cuban ports; and they replied, acknowl- 

 edging the courtesy, and announcing their inten- 

 tion of sending in return Spanish vessels to the 

 principal ports of the United States. The Maine 

 reached Havana on Jan. 25, and was anchored to 

 a buoy assigned by the authorities of the harbor. 

 She lay there three weeks. Her officers received 

 the usual formal courtesies from the Spanish au- 

 thorities, and Consul-General Lee tendered them a 

 dinner. The sailors of the Maine did not receive 

 shore liberty, owing to the ill-disguised aversion 

 shown to the few officers who went ashore. The 

 treatment of officers and crew by the Spanish au- 

 thorities was perfectly proper outwardly, al- 

 though no effusive cordiality was shown. At 

 forty minutes past nine o'clock on the evening 

 of Feb. 15, while the greater part of the crew 

 were asleep, a double explosion occurred forward, 

 rending the ship in two and causing her to sink 

 instantly. Out of a complement of 355 officers and 

 men, 2 officers and 258 men were drowned or killed 

 and 58 were taken out wounded. Capt. Sigsbee 

 telegraphed a report of the occurrence to Wash- 

 ington, and asked that public opinion be suspended 

 until further details were known. Marshal Blanco 

 informed Madrid that the explosion was due to an 

 accident caused by the bursting of a dynamo- 



